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How to Detect if You Have Radon at Home

Radon is a type of gas but it is one that you should not want to be present in your residence as it can create devastating effects on the health of anyone living in your home. Radon is radioactive and a carcinogen as well. It is known to be one of the possible causes of the thousand of death recorded each year that is related to cancer. Because of the health risks and fatal characteristics posed by radon gas, homeowners should take serious measures in detecting any presence of radon gas in their houses. You can use both the short term test kit and the long-term one to be able to fully detect the existence of radon at your home.

Using the Short-Term Radon Test Kit

To begin the process, close your house first for at least 12 hours before. Do not use fans or any central heating and air conditioning system you have installed in your home during this duration. Put the short term kit on the first floor of the house, or in the basement if you used that area frequently. Make sure that you put it at least 20 inches above the floor of your house so it will work properly. You should not put it in the bathroom or in your kitchen.

Once you have placed it properly on the recommended area, just let it be there for as long as the kit instruction advises. It may actually take a few days or a few weeks depending on the recommendation of the kit you are using. Once the suggested duration of the test is over, send the kit immediately to the laboratory that the manufacturer instructed so it can determine the level of radon present in the house and send you the results.

Using the Long-Term Radon Test Kit

You are only advised to conduct a long-term radon test if the results of the short term test are more than 4 picocuries per liter of air pCi/L, which is an indication of a possible hazardous level of radon gas. There is not much difference actually with the long-term and short-term radon test kit. You just need to leave the long-term kit much longer in the place to ensure that it will get appropriate results.

You can then send again to the laboratory the kit for the long-term testing after the detection procedure is over. If the results still yielded more than 4 pCi/L, the next step to immediately do is eradicate the high level of radon gas detected in your home.

Making sure that you have a safe and non-hazardous house is necessary not only for your family but for the whole community as well. Take time to test the radon presence in your home so you would know what safety measures to do.